11. Agroforestry and biomass energy/fuelwood production.

The fuelwood situation in many developing countries has become alarming in recent times.

Recent studies have indicated that fuelwood cutting is second only to clearing land for agriculture as a major cause of deforestation.

Although fuel for cooking is the most important use of firewood, there are also other uses such as heating and lighting. Wood remains the main fuel source even in areas where forests are rapidly disappearing.

Trees and shrubs constitute the main source of firewood and other forms of biomass energy.

The problem of fuelwood shortage cannot be tackled in isolation from other aspects of rural development. The rather unimpressive performance of large-scale forestry and reafforestation programmes in the developing countries offers a good lesson.

The chances of a programme for fuelwood production being successful are greatly enhanced if it can be tackled the production not only of fuelwood but also of food crops.

Agroforestry can be of value in this context by:

- Incorporating and integrating appropriate species of woody perennials on farmlands along with other components of the farming system not in a competitive but in a complementary way;

- Integrating herbaceous crops and livestock on forest land according to the agroforestry management schemes so as to facilitate simultaneous production of wood and food crops; and